How Human Rights Became Gay Rights

Pretsell, Douglas; Willem Jones, Timothy

Abstract

When the Legislative Council of the Australian island state of Tasmania rejected gay law reform in July 1991, a group of enterprising activists took their case to the United Nations. In April 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in their favor. The case, Toonen v Australia, is a landmark human rights judgement that has proved highly influential in the years that have followed. Using interviews with the principal participants, this article provides a historical narrative of their activist journey.

Citation

Pretsell, D., & Willem Jones, T. (2024). How Human Rights Became Gay Rights. Human Rights Quarterly, 46(3), 437-460. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2024.a933872

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-08
• Deposit Date: Jan 22, 2025
• Journal: Human Rights Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 0275-0392
• Electronic ISSN: 1085-794X
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 437-460
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2024.a933872
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1049107